Which of the following are similar to the ways you've served Christ in your family? [check all that apply]
• Taught your kids to see God's glory in nature
• Washed the dishes without being asked
• Played a board game with your kids
• Encouraged your wife to finish her master's degree
• Attended a child's open house at school
• Worked fewer hours to be with your family
• Set an example of a godly prayer life for your children
• Held a crying child
• Swung on the tire swing with your daughter
• Told your wife why you're still in love with her
• Told your son he's got what it takes
• Coached soccer
• Let you child correct you now and then
• Fixed the vacuum cleaner
• Taught your sons to ride a bike
• Listened patiently to a complaint of your wife
• Taped your child's artwork to your office wall
• Admitted to your kids that you were wrong
• Told your children how Christ entered your life
• Cleaned up vomit
• Taught your children to love books
• Been romantic without expecting sex
• Told your daughter she's smart/beautiful
• Set standards for your kids and stuck to them
• Dealt graciously with a busybody neighbor
• Peeled carrots
• Watched movies together
Weekend Wrap-up Theme of the Week: Beyond Book Learning Saturday, October 9, 2004
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Men of IntegritySeptember/October 2004Weekend Wrap-upTheme of the Week: Beyond Book LearningSaturday, October 975
John 5 records a tense encounter between Jesus and the religious leaders. These leaders knew what the Bible said but failed to apply its words to their lives. They knew the teachings of Scripture but failed to see the Messiah to whom Scriptures pointed. They knew the rules but missed the Savior. Entrenched in their own religious system, they refused to let the Son of God change their lives. What can we learn from them?
Interact with God's Word
John 5:37–47
Do you imagine that Jesus said the words of vv. 39–40 in anger or with a sigh of sadness?Do you suspect today's conservative Christians may have blind spots similar to those of the Pharisees? Why or why not?In vv. 41–44, Jesus asserted that how the religious leaders rated with their peers was more important to them than responding to the Messiah they should have been expecting. How can you avoid becoming so involved in "religion" that you miss Christ?How can you be confident that you have God's message in your heart(vv. 37–38)?Spend Time in Prayer
Ask God's Spirit to allow you to "hear" His Word in a fresh way, accept it free of mental "loopholes," and allow it to penetrate your heart and will.
John 5:37–47
37And the Father himself has also testified about me. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, 38and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.
39"You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! 40Yet you refuse to come to me so that I can give you this eternal life.
41"Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me, 42because I know you don't have God's love within you. 43For I have come to you representing my Father, and you refuse to welcome me, even though you readily accept others who represent only themselves. 44No wonder you can't believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don't care about the honor that comes from God alone.
45"Yet it is not I who will accuse you of this before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, on whom you set your hopes. 46But if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me because he wrote about me. 47And since you don't believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?"
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